Ex-Cudahy mayor gets one year in prison for taking bribes

LOS ANGELES - The former mayor of Cudahy was sentenced Monday to one year in federal prison for taking $5,000 in exchange for supporting a proposed medical marijuana dispensary.

Authorities said 62-year-old ex-mayor David Silva along with Cudahy Councilman Osvaldo Conde, 51, and Angel Perales, 44, who ran the Code Enforcement Division of the Cudahy Community Services Department, received $15,000 in bribes from an FBI confidential informant.

"Mr. Silva sold the integrity and authority of the mayor's office for his own personal gain," U.S. Attorney Andr? Birotte Jr. said.

"Elected officials are expected to obey the law. When they don't, those officials should expect to go to prison."

Perales, who lives in Azusa, was sentenced two weeks ago to probation. Conde faces a Feb. 25 sentencing for taking bribes from an FBI informant and accepting two separate bribe payments, officials said.

The three men met the informant at the El Potrero nightclub in Cudahy on Feb. 28 and accepted the $15,000, according to court documents. Conde met the confidential informant later that night to receive an additional $2,000.

Federal agents recorded conversations in which Cudahy city officials explain that the City Council planned to approve only one or two permits for marijuana stores in the city.

According to the affidavit, Perales sought to broker an arrangement between an FBI informant and city officials in which the informant would make cash payments in exchange for the officials supporting a request for one of the permits.

Prior to a meeting with Conde and Silva at a Pico Rivera restaurant, Perales instructed the informant how he should broach the topic of paying the bribes, and later instructed the informant on how to present the bribes, specifying that the payments should be in cash only.

Silva's attorney, Patrick Aguirre, wrote the court that his client is truly remorseful.

"He has totally and completely withdrawn from his local society as a result of the humiliation and embarrassment this matter has caused to such an extent Mr. Silva had seriously considered taking his own life," Aguirre wrote.

In his plea agreement, Perales also admitted he tampered with ballots in two city council elections. Silva, who was first elected to the council in 1992, allegedly admitted to taking cash and bottles of liquor from a developer interested in buying city property.

Officials alleged Silva agreed to accept a $50,000 payment from a developer who wanted to purchase land that the city owned.

It was also alleged that Silva participated in a scheme to take money from a massage parlor madame who offered cash in exchange for approvals.

Aguirre said his client admitted voting in favor of the developer's purchase of the land but didn't indicate doing so for financial gain. He pointed out that no money has been paid to Silva by the developer to date.

Silva acknowledged he and Conde were told they would receive a campaign contribution in exchange for speeding up the opening of the massage parlor, according to Aguirre. But he said there is no indication of an agreement between Silva and the person who wanted to open the parlor and nor has that person paid anything to Silva.